


Unexpected visitors

by Solidsnail



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Bisexual Male Character, M/M, Slow Burn, TW: Blood mention, but this is downright bananas, helping a stranger is something Henry is good at, pendleshend, post Silent Hill the room, tw: injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 08:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11779365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solidsnail/pseuds/Solidsnail
Summary: Henry sure had expirienced many strange things in room 302. But after 5 calm years it seemed like he needed a break from ordinarity, in form of a stranger and an even stranger action on his behalf.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Nilla who came into my life, due to a mere coincidence and has been lighting it up ever since.

In retrospekt Henry wasnt sure how it had gotten to this point either. Surely, since befriending Eileen he had gotten at least a little more involved with people but on his own, the young man was still pretty much a self proclaimed social procastinator, if not disaster. 

And usally if a random man had just magically appeared in his apartement and had started raiding his refrigerator, Henry would have either hid in the closet until the stranger was gone or batted him over with the golf club, left in the storage box, like he used to, to the monsters in Silent Hill.

But to his suprise, and probably much to the intruders aswell, neither of the above had happened.  
Instead, Henry now stood in the infront of the kitchen counter, sloppily chopping a bunch of left over vegetables, preparing for a simple dish of fried rice, while the other man awkwardly sat on the back of the couch, hands on his thighs and forcefully trying to look anywhere but the kitchen.

Both of them wanted to be at any place but where they were at this moment and Henry knew that. But thinking of how the other had agreed to Henrys offer with mabye much mistrust but remarkably little resistance, he figured the Stranger must have been in a, for him, hopeless situation.  
And Since Henry wasnt on the floor bleeding from his head yet, he also safely concluded that currently, the other one meant to do no harm to him.

Time passed and It was painfully quiet. Only the soft crackling of the vegetables in the frying pan and the humming of the ceiling fan were to be heard.  
Nervously shooting him a look over the shoulder once in a while, Henry desperatly tried to think of anything useful to say to break the silence but he felt like the awkwardness of the situation had completely ripped him of his ability to make up a converstation.

„What´s...your name?“, Henry finally managed to ask out loud. The Stranger flinched for a second and looked at Henry bewildered at the sudden question.

He seemed to hesitate with answering. Although Henry didnt know whether to blame him or not.  
„I mean I´m making you dinner“, he awkwardly laughed and slightly turned to face his „visitor“,  
„I think I deserve to know at least that.“

The Stranger furrowed his eyebrows: „I never asked you to.“, he snapped but shortly after lowered his head in regret:  
„….Sorry.“, he mumbled and started looking out of the window again.

„No...It´s ok...This must be very weird to you, I guess.“, Henry turned around, gesturing apologetically.  
To his suprise the Stranger let out a small chuckle:  
„Honestly? Compared to the things that happened to me all day, you´re nothing.“  
he paused for second and looked at Henry a little concerned before continuing:  
„Although you know...letting complete stranger sit on your couch and cooking for them really isn‘t something you should do too often.“

Henry smiled briefly: „Says the Stranger on my couch, that I´m cooking for.“

The other man shook his head and leanded back: „I guess I can´t argue with that...“, he said and ruffled through his dark brown hair, „But you get what I mean! You´re damm lucky that I´m just some lost guy.“

„Some lost guy that´s been raiding my fridge“, Henry added.  
„Whatever.“, the stranger replied, „All I´m saying is I could have been anyone.“, and for the first time today, he looked Henry directly in his eyes, „You really could have gotten into trouble.“

 

Henry swallowed. As much as he knew the stranger was being sincere he couldnt help but feel a little distracted by staring in the mans intense, dark eyes, letting his gaze wander over his sharp jawline and full lips and...  
„Well if there´s one thing you are, It sure is handsome.“, he thought but immediately threw that away.  
„Easy there Townshend, you´ve known him for two hours!“, he scolded himself.  
The last thing he needed was more awkward tension between him and a possible burglar, or whatever brought this man here, in Room 302 of a filthy apartement complex in Ashfield.

„Are you ok?“, his intruder must have gotten slightly confused by Henrys silent staring, as he tilted his head to the right and looked at him with raised eyebrows. There was a slight bit of concern in his expression and Henry couldnt help but feel a little ashamed of his blatant behaviour.

„Yeah! I-I´m fine.“, he brabbled out and quickly turned around to the pan again to shove around the almost done vegetables. Mostly just so the stranger wouldnt have to see his red, embarrased face. 

Silence fell over the two again for a few minutes as Henry started adding other ingridients.  
This time however, He had little desire to pick up another conversation. Instead he focused on doing anything but turning around invoking any interaction with his so called „guest“ besides giving him the food once it was done.  
But even so Henry could feel the intriguing gaze in his back, given from the other man which sent shivers down his spine.  
Just what had he gotten himself into again?

„You´re strange.“, the man suddenly spoke up. This time it was Henry who flinched. Hard enough to sent the spoon he was holding, flying across the top plate.

Making a frustrated noise, Henry reached out, tried to catch it, failing horribly.  
With a cluttering sound the spoon dropped on the floor and right with it, Henrys self esteem.  
It wasnt helping that after a second of looking completely startled, his guest bursted out in a deep and short laughter.

„Jesus Christ, kid that startled me.“

Henry didnt appreciate being called a kid but he didn‘t had much of a chance to vocalize his discomfort because before he even could, the Stranger had stood up and stepped into the kitchen area next to him  
„This is just painful to watch. Let me help ok?“, he offered, slightly smiling and rolling up the sleeves to his elbows.

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at the kitchen counter, two half eaten plates infront of them, Henry wasnt exactly hungry but the stranger had insisted for him to have some of it too. Either as a test to see if Henry was pulling anything strange with him or simply because he didnt wanted to exclude the other man. He still wasnt sure which one might be the truth.  
Uninterested in the food, Henry shot the other one a look once in a while. Watched his self invited guest eating the slightly overcooked rice with suprisingly much satisfaction.  
„Kid I know you´re staring, what is it?“, he suddenly spoke out , setting the fork down and turned around, giving Henry a questioning look.  
Embarrased that he had been caught, Henry lowered his head quickly.  
He scratched the back of his neck and mumbled:

„I´m just glad you seem to like it….I´m not exactly the best cook.“  
The man chuckled:  
„We´ll I would'nt call you a master chef. But compared to the stuff I´ve eaten for years, this is heaven.“  
He picked up the fork again, slowly shoving another (portion?) in his mouth.  
Henry started to laugh, genuinely for the first time this day and looked at the other man.  
„Where have you been? In Jail?“, he asked jokingly.  
With a clonking sound, the fork fell on the side of the plate. His intruder held his hand infront of his mouth as he let his head hang and started to caugh.  
Henry immediately shot up and moved closer to the man in an attempt to carefully strike him on the back.  
„Shit hold on I-“  
But he was interuppted by the older one as he held his hand infront of Henrys face to signalize that he did not wanted him to step nearer, his arm then swung around and pointed at the sink.  
„W-Water.“, he spluttered out before returning to violently caughing again.  
„Right!“, Henry reacted and quickly made his way to the faucet and back with a small glass of water in his hand.  
The other one who had gotten his caughing at least a bit more under control, grabbed after the water quickly turning away from Henry who just watched his guests breath, slowly regulating, completely thrown off by everything that had happened now. He just stood there, awkwardly patting the back of the stranger.  
With a few more caughs in between, he finally straightened his back again, wiping away the edges of his mouth as he started to laugh, more forced than anything.

„You ahh...You got some kind of humor, kid.“, he, seemingly more nervous than necessary, smiled at Henry who started to have serious second thoughts about what was going on in his room right now.  
„I guess so...“, Henry said and slowly took place on his chair again, refusing to take his eyes away from his opposite, who now seemed to shrink into his seat, right before returning to his food with an obviously faked attention.  
Time passed as they, once again, sat there in silence. Feeling nothing but awkward tension filling the room once more. This time even more painful than before.  
When Henrys questionable guest had finished his plate, he just crossed his arms on the counter, shoulders tensed up.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Henry could see the stranger furrowing his eyebrows as if he was contemplaiting with himself about something. Henry could only hope it didn´t involve him or any kind of violence. The shimmer of Safety he had felt before, had completely disappeared within the last 10 minutes and Henry just wanted this scene to end, so he could scratch away any memory and leave this as just another supressed encounter with a weird stranger. Of course this was not what was going to happen.

„Listen..I uhm.“, the chair creaked along the floor as the man stood up and turned to face Henry, still very tensed up, the expression showing a hint of...guilt? Henry couldnt tell  
„Thanks for...all this.“, He pointed towards the empty plates, „But I should get going. I still got...some stuff to take care of.“  
Henry nodded: „I get it.“, Actually no he didn´t but that didn´t matter. He was just glad to be alone soon again.  
„Take care.“, he half heartedly added, drawing a faint smile and nod out of the other man.  
„Yeah. You too. And again, thanks!“

He turned around and stepped towards the window before Henry stopped him.  
„Where are you going? The Door is right there?“  
Already half out of the window the stranger swung around in suprise switching gazes between Henry and the direction of the main door.  
„You can use that door even with those things?“,he asked bewildered.  
Now it was Henry who furrowed his brows in confusion: „What things?“  
The man pointed towards the entrance. „All those chains on your door. Are you seriously just keeping them on there?“

Henrys heart plummeted into his stomach as he heard what the man said.  
He jumped, face dissorted from horror, running to the closed door, heart pounding. This couldn't possibly be true. Not again.  
But As he reached the door, he was stopped in his tracks immediately.  
There were no chains.  
Everything was perfectly normal.

Fear was replaced with anger. But confusion remained. Quickly, Henry turned around and barged back into the living room.  
„What the hell are you talking about? There is nothing the-“, but he came to a halt as he quickly realized that his shouting had no purpose whatsoever. He stood in a completely empty room.  
Windows shut as always, rain softly pounding against them.  
The man was gone.

 

„So you´re telling me...“, Eileen pinched the bridge of her nose. It was the morning after Henrys rather extraordinary encounter and they were currently sitting in a small café near Eileens new apartement. The Sun was blocked by a few clouds. But the air still was warm around them.  
„You come out of your bedroom. And there´s some random guy. No! Some random, Bloodstained guy, magically appearing in your kitchen, raiding your fridge.  
And the first thing YOU decide is the most rational, to do is to make him dinner?“

Henry sighed, wearily stirring in the already cold cappuchino infront of him:  
„You´re making it sound worse than it was.“  
„AND to top that!“, he was sharply interrupted as Eileen continued, „That guy might have been runaway convict? And you just let him go?“  
The young woman settled her hands on the table and looked at Henry with an expression partly concern partly pure shock.  
„I´m sorry Henry but you are goddamm crazy. What the hell made you do something this...“, she paused, gesturing vaguely.  
„Dumb?“, Henry replied flatly.  
„Not the word I wanted to use but it sure does the job.“, Eileen admitted, defeated. She reached out to Henrys hand, laying hers on top, before interwining their fingers.  
„I´m worried about you and you know that.“  
Henry nodded. He did know. Of course he did. Ever since the end of their time in Walters realm, this nightmare come to life, they had stuck together as closely as they could. And Henry was not sure if he could have dealt with the trauma Silent Hill had left for him, as well as he had with Eileen by his side, as his friend. Best Friend. The most important woman in his life.  
A sense of guilt built up inside of him for feeling annoyed by Eileens concern before. Gently he squeezed her hand and looked into her green eyes.  
„I know. I´m sorry.“  
Faintly smiling, she sighed and laid back, separating their hands in the process.  
„At least tell me he was hot. There must have been some reason why you acted like a horny chick in a romance novell.“  
„Like a what?“, Henry asked, completely perplexed and watched Eileen bursting out in a bright laughter.  
„So he was!“, she giggled, „I guess you´re not entirely crazy.“  
Henry made a sour face before taking a sip out of his drink and mumbled something intelligible into the cup in his hands. He couldn´t deny that the stranger in his apartement might have been at least above average handsome. But that had had nothing to do with anything.  
„He just looked like he needed help ok? It wasn´t like I gained anything from it.“, Henry grumbled, trying to justify himself but earning nothing but a mischevious grin from his friend.  
„Uh huh...“  
He refused to answer to Eileens sassyness only giving her a roll of his eyes. Which unfortunately only made her grin harder.  
„Oh come on it was a joke.“, she said and bent over to light heartedly poke his side.  
„It´s not like I´m trying to set you up with some possible-escaped-convict-burglar.“  
Henry only raised an eyebrow: „Honestly? You, Eileen Galvin, are capable of anything.“

„Oh how charming.“, she snickered, „Do you have any more of your wonderful compliments in stock for me?“

„I got to keep some of my secrets, don´t I?“, he answered and smiled at Eileen who humorously slapped his right arm.  
„You don´t have secrets from me and you know that.“  
And as their friendly conversation continued towards a different direction, Henry felt that, in the light of the resurfacing sun, among the display of a crowded street next to their café, the events of the day before fainted more and more out of his mind.

 

The rain poured mercyless, He walked among the deserted streets, soaked to a point where it didn´t bother him anymore. The fireaxe clutched in his hand, drawn close to him to cause some kind of feeling of security.  
The streets seemed empty. But he had learned, not to trust that all too much. The bloodstains and wounds on his back reminded him very well.  
Fingers started to go numb from the cold of the rain, he already had given up on his feet but he knew that the moment he´d stop he´d be doomed.  
It was an ugly display.  
The ragged man running along empty houses, not knowing what it was that he looked for. Driven by nothing but fear and confusion.

But in the distance of his mind, he recalled the faint taste of overcooked vegetables and The warmth of a roof under his head. A feeling of a gentle hand on his back and a humble kindness from a stranger who had no reason to be.  
He kept on walking.

 

 

Henry had hoped that the insecurity, that had been planted once again in his heart after the short encounter with the man in his room, wouldnt have a chance to set roots any further.  
But as time passed and he was left alone in his apartement once again, fear creeped up his thoughts once again.  
Was there still something wrong with Room 302? Was he in danger? What had happened to the stranger? (lol das hat sich gereimt) Or was everything nothing but Henrys mind going absolutely bananas now?  
Questions over Questions swirred inside Henrys head, hour after hour.

It had been two days since then. 

Henry lied in his bed, the little display of the alarm clock, he had gotten from Eileen some time ago, read 1:32 am. However he was far from sleeping. He shifted around in the darkness, unable to find any rest from the day before, or the night before that.  
It wasn´t the first time Henry hadn´t been able to sleep for a longer period. He was used to it by now no question. But It was the unsettling feeling, he had, while lying his bedroom, that drove him crazy.  
Sighing in defeat, He turned his body to the left in order to turn on the small bedside lamp next to him. If he couldn´t sleep then he might aswell do something productive, rather than wasting the time contemplating about nothing.  
Henry sat up, rubbing his temples and eyes and sluggily made his way to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob.

That was when he heard a muffled sound of something falling in the living room.

That was when he heard a pain induced groan.

Like he had been shot, Henry immediately teared open the door and ran through the short hallway.  
Stopping at the kitchen counter, he looked foward and saw the stranger, kneeling next to his sofa, breathing heavily while clutching the right side of his waist with a bloodsoaked hand.

„What the hell!“, Henry called out in shock causing his, now second time, intruder to lift his head towards him.  
He looked even worse than before, eyes sunken deep in the socket and his face definitely paler, in contrast to the blood around him. But as his eyes lay on Henry, he managed to show a hint of a smile.  
„H-Hey!“, he said, voice sounding hoarse and weak. Then he collapsed completely.

„Shit!“  
Henry hurried to his side and clumsily slipped an arm under the other ones in an attempt to give some kind of support.

„Can you stand?“,he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible in this situation. The last thing he needed was to stress the stranger even more.  
With his side pressed to Henrys back, He was shocked about how cold the other one felt.  
A consenting grunt was the only answer he got but it was enough for him at the moment.  
Slowly but steadily, Henry rose from the ground carefully grasping around the unwounded side of the other mans waist, pulling him up aswell.  
The man inhaled sharply when they took their first steps.  
Internally cursing himself for not going to the gymn more often, Henry lead them to the bathroom door, granted, with alot of exhaustion. That was defenitely going on his to do list, when everything was over.  
Sloppily turning the doorhandle, they practically fell into the bathroom. With a slight hint of disgust, Henry noticed the mess they had made along the way. But now was not the appropriate time to worry about the condition of his floor. That could be taken care of later. What mattered now was the wheezing, injured man by his side.  
With one last bit of his remaining strength, Henry managed to dump his guest into the bathtub, leaning him on the shower wall.  
„Hold on!“, he whispered while carefully stroking a few strands of wet hair out of the mans forehead and, To his fear, noticed that he might have caught a fever aswell. This was not good.

Turning around on his heels, Henry ran out of the room and quickly came back with a medkit and a few bottles of rubbing alcohol aswell as with a single untagged bottle.  
He carefully set his belongings on a towel layed out on the floor before returning to his „patient“ who had his head rested against the cold shower wall, eyes closed.  
„Hey.“, Henry kneeled next to the tub and gently shook the shoulder of the man to attract his attention. „I have to get you out of your clothes for this.“, he spoke softly, „You think you can help me with that?“  
The strangers eyes fluttered open at the sound of Henrys voice and gave an affirmitave nod.  
He was awake, that was a starter, Henry thought but he did not wanted to loose any more time.  
Standing up again Henry leaned over and started undoing the buttons of the other mans shirt trying to ignore how close he was to his face and how he heard the others breath growing fainter with every second.  
„Lift your arms please.“, he whispered. The man did what he asked and, carefully, trying to avoid hurting him in any way, Henry pulled both shirts over the injureds head, throwing the dirty and soaked clothing in a corner of the room. He would wash them later, he thought.

Right after, he reached for the hem of the strangers pants when suddenly Henry froze in place. Hesitantly, he looked up to the mans face shooting him a questioning look. It was clear that his intruder was in no condition to take off the trousers by himself. But still Henry couldnt shake off the feeling of uncertainity. Was this really ok?  
He, who had understood the cause of Henry hesitating, just furrowed his brows in annoyance.  
„Just get over with it“, he croaked and shifted slightly to the left, towards Henry, a painful grunt escaping his mouth, followed by more heavy breathing.

Henry suddenly felt dumb for his slow reaction. This man was probably under alot of pain. The last thing he cared about, right now was, whether it was Henry or anyone else stripping him nude in a small bathtub stained with his own blood.

„Sorry.“, Henry mumbled, centering his attention around unbuckling the thick belt. Throwing it right after on the pile of shirts and pulled the mans pants down.  
„Can you lift your hip a bit?“, settling his hand on the others tailbone he gently started to hold up the body, supporing the injured who grasped along the edges of the tub in an attempt to push himself up.  
Henry acted quickly. Pulling at the pants of the stranger to slide them over to the others bruised knee, before he collapsed once again.  
„Really not how I thought my friday night would go.“, Henry mumbled as he carefully lifted up the mans leg to continue to remove the pants. 

„Tell me about it.“, he heard the dizzy voice of his companion who had laid his sweaty head in his neck, staring at the ceiling while his chest rose and fell unevenly. Henry had to hurry up.

Blood started oozing through a few bandages randomly plastered on the mans leg. Surely some earlier attempts of self aid. After the pants have been safely removed and added to the soaking clothpile aswell, Henry first started to take a proper look at his self proclaimed patient.

What he saw made his stomach churn. This mans body was a battlefield. Wounds over wounds. Shlashes, as with made by something with claws, bruises, weirdly enough even things that looked like burns, scattered all over his skin.  
Some seemed older, already half healed. But most of them were still fresh, dried blood mixed with dirt partly covering them but some already starting to bleed anew, faster than Henry appreciated it. His breath hitched.

„Dear lord.“,He whispered in horror, „What did this to you?“  
Face grimaced with disgust at the view of his own body, the injured one looked at Henry.  
„Trust me when I tell you, you wouldn´t believe me.“, he laughed bitterly.  
Henry didn´t reply instead he leaned over once again, reaching for the showerhead above the others shoulder and unhandled it.  
„I need to get all this off you somehow. I can barely see anything.“, Henry explained because of the questioning gaze of his opposite. Insecurity made it´s way back into Henrys guts.  
„Is that ok?, he asked unsettled by the lack of reaction, the other one made.  
For a moment, the man said nothing. Then, seemingly in defeat sighed deeply and closed his eyes:  
„I guess this might aswell happen today.“, he mumbled.  
Henry knew this was nowwhere near his fault but he couldn´t help but feel guilty. One could say it was a bad habit of his. Immediately taking the blame on himself. For no good reason at all.  
„I´m sorry.“, Henry said, hands firmly clutched around the handle of the shower head.  
„I´ll start with lukewarm water ok? Let me know if it´s too hot for you!“ 

„Ok..“, came as an exhausted answer. Henry turned on the shower, just so a gentle douse came out of it, not enough to irritate any of the wounds and began to gently wash away the blood, starting from the shoulders.  
As soon as the warm water came in contact with his skin, the stranger tensed up a bit, his back slightly arching. Henry looked up in concern but soon enough, the man relaxed again, let out an exhasperating sigh and sank back on the ground.  
Small, light-red pools of water collected at the bottom of the tub, a light steam rose in the room as Henry slightly increased the temperature of the water. The air was thick and smelled faintly after blood which would have irritated Henry if he hadnt already been used to worse scents, years ago. Compared to that, the bathroom air seemed like a walk through a perfume departement. Well kind of.

„I´m sorry...“  
Henry lifted his head in suprise catching the man looking at him with an apologetic hint in his tired face.  
„What for?“, Henry asked confused, lowering the shower head still in his hand. The stranger sighed.  
„I keep getting you in trouble.“, he said gazing at the reddish water flushing down the bathtub drain.  
„And I haven´t even told you my name.“  
Both said nothing for a while. Then Henry, not really caring wether it was a good idea or not, reached into the tub to take the strangers free hand and carefully shook it.  
„I´m Henry.“, he said and smiled hesitantly.  
It took a second of dumbfounded staring at him before the other one lowered his head and began to chuckle deeply. He then returned the gesture.  
„Murphy.“, he said firmly but seemingly content. „Now you know what name to put on my grave in case I don´t make it.“  
Henry frowned at Murphys cynic words and shook his head.  
„I´d prefer that wouldnt happen.“, he said and continued to wash the blood off. He turned Murphys back slightly, so he was facing the wall and quickly doused it with water.  
„Just a joke.“, the man sighed against the shower wall.  
„Hm.“, was Henrys only reply as he raised an eyebrow to look at Murphy who, as soon as Henry gently directed him back to lie in the tub, started to slightly doze off again. Head leaned against the wall, lips slightly parted and eyes clouded by exhaustion.  
Henry felt a strange desire to touch the mans face.

 

As minutes passed and Henry slowly reached the lower area of the mans body, things started to move towards a more awkward mood. He sensed that Murphy was tensing up again, head turned away from Henrys face but since his wet hair sticked tightly to the sides when Henry had stroked them from his forehead, he could see the slight pink spots growing on his sickly pale cheeks.  
Deciding quickly he just skipped the part of Murphys body, covered by his boxers and simply prayed there wasn´t anything fatally wounded there. Seeing from Murphys relieved expression he concluded this might have been a good decision. And Henry silently continued with the mans legs.

„You know I did had some very strange experiences in the past years.“, Murphy suddenly said but was interrupted by Henry pointing at his head before gently cupping Murphys cheek and laying his head in his neck so that the water of the shower wouldn´t get in his eyes.  
He continued: „Especially regarding showers. But I gotta say that you top it all.“  
Henry didnt look up  
„Is that so?“, he asked, absently making gentle strokes through the mans thick hair.  
Murphy who strangely enough did not mind what Henry was doing nodded.  
„I guess I´m not used to people like you anymore...“, he said. And bitternes echoed within his voice. Enough to make Henry not ask any further questions but instead putting the shower head in Murphys hand.  
„I´m gonna go get a Towell...“, he said, and stood up,  
„You go take care of...that.“, pointing at Murphys boxers before turning away quickly, almost barging out of the room.  
He came back a few minutes later, holding some folded towels, aswell as a Tshirt and what looked like spare boxers.  
„You´re lucky I just bought these.“, Henry commented on the boxers, setting down the clothes and unfolded the towell while stepping closer to the tub.  
„Take that. We need to get you out now.“, He covered him with the towel before wrapping his arms around Murphys chest to lift him up. It was only now that he got to realize that Murphy now was completely naked and with a light pink blush he directed his gaze anywhere under the other ones hairline. This was defenitely not the strangest but most awkward moment in a long time.  
Murphy who already had regained a little bit of strength, was able to stand at least somewhat stable. Still he was thankful for Henry to hold onto him as they slowly and steadily moved him out of the bathtub  
„Easy“, Henry uttered under his breath as they walked a few steps foward. Murphys legs were still annoyingly weak under the regained pressure and while standing deemed to be possible, walking was another story. But eventually they made it. With a final huff, Murphy was settled on the small spot next to the bathroom mirror, with Henry next to him caughing a few times to disguise his exhaustion. Apparently it wasnt just Murphy who was out of shape at the moment. Although Murphy had a very good reason not to be.  
Henry faced the man again and threw the pair of unused boxers towards him. „You can do that yourself?“  
Murphy just nodded and amusedly watched Henry turning around and awkwardly scratching the back of his head, deeming the showerwall to be very interesting, while Murphy carefully slipped into the underwear.  
„Done!“, he called out the other man once he was finished and watched said person returning to him, still slightly uneasy.  
Murphy snorted: „You wash blood off total strangers but this makes you uncomfortable?“  
He gained nothing but a single stare of Henry but it was enough to make him stay quiet as the other one poured some rubbing alcohol on a clean tissue and began properly treating the wounds.

While he was hovering over Murphys injured chest, carefully cleaning out and aiding the many scratches left by the screamers, Murphy realized, that for the first time, he got to have a closer look at his host.

Henry had a kind face, was what he realized first.  
His features were less sturdy and sharp than Murphys, the jawline slightly blurred by his stubbles but overall he looked remarkibly handsome.  
Murphy ran his glance over the plump lips, the straight nose to the dark circles under his eyes and got distracted by Henrys suprisingly full but short eyeslashes which were partly covered by long, brown bangs of hair.  
Judging from the length, It looked like Henry hadn´t seen a hairdresser for a while but Murphy couldn´t say that it looked bad. IT just added to the comforting look, Henry gave off.  
Everything about him just seemed to blend in with each other. Nothing stood out too much if you didn´t paid closer attention. And If you did, It was as he radiated some kind of tranquility.  
Murphy couldn´t help but feel a little envious thinking of how he knew, he looked, and something else that he was not really able to describe. All he knew is that somehow, he couldnt shake the thought off how nice Henrys touch felt, and how strangely comforting he found this, granted, kind of neccesary closeness.

Without really knowing what he was doing, Murphy lifted his right hand and slowly brushed aside the bangs, covering Henrys forehead.  
Puzzled, Henry stopped what he was doing and gave him an confused, if not irritated look.  
Murphy, still with his hand partly dipped in Henrys hair, just stared back for a couple of seconds before he came to acknowledge what he had just done. But instead of backing away he remained exactly as before., Almost as if he was trying to trigger some kind of reaction. Hell even he didnt know what he hoping to achieve with this anymore. But something in his mind told him that this was the way to go.  
Henry stayed silent for another few seconds, his was brain trying to process what exactly had happened right now.  
He looked into the mans eyes, desperately trying to find any real clue. But the Murphys face was unchanged in expression. Tired but somehow captivated by something, he stared back at Henry, his dark brown eyes glimmering with something undescribable almost...delirious.  
Was he halluzinating now?  
Henry felt his face heating up and not just because of the stale, still steamy bathroom air around them. He couldnt help but somehow feel flattered at Murphys blunt action.  
But this wasnt the time for whatever this was supposed to be. Henry quickly decided to brush off his own thoughts, together with Murphys hand in Henrys hair.  
„I better hurry up you seem to be loosing it.“, he uttered and shot a quick glance up Murphys face to see a perplexed, if not even a little bit disappointed expression.  
Henrys chest felt uncomfortably tight for the rest of the time and he only counted the minutes until most of the wounds on Murphys body were safely cleaned and wrapped.  
Finally leaning back, he set aside what was left of the bandaid in his hands and wiped his now sweaty forehead.  
Murphy seemed to have dozen off again during the process, but he was alive, judging after his evenly rising and falling chest.  
To Henrys relief and much to Murphys luck, most of the wounds had turned out to be rather superficial than anything else. Even the big slash on Murphys waist had turned out to need some slight stitching at most. But that could be taken care of later, he figured. For now, Henry had been able to stop the bleeding as good as possible and to all respect, he was not able to do anymore than this.  
Standing at the sink, slowly rinsing the remaining blood of his hands, Henry glanced to the side, eyes on Murphy.  
With most of the blood and dirt removed and his hair almost dry again, Murphy looked almost peaceful, the way his limp body was leaned against the bathroomwall. But his face was still dangerously pale and Henry remained unsure about how to handle his fever.  
It felt like all henry could do was to let the man rest. But not like this.

„Hey...“, he calmly walked up to Murphy in his sleeping state and gently shook his shoulder.  
„Hey!“, he called out again, this time a little more louder than before and Murphy finally reacted, softly gasping as his head shot up. His face softened when he saw Henry, leaning over him.

„How about you rest somewhere else than on the bathroom floor?“, Henry smiled to Murphys bemused demeanor as he looked around in a haste before he remembered where he was.  
Once again Henry lowered himself to Murphys level to wrap his arms around him. This time with even more ease as Murphy now was partly able to walk for himself.  
Outside of the bathroom they were first hit with the cooler air of the living room and Henry noticed Murphy deeply inhaling in delight. Somehow that made him smile and he continued to guide his once again „guest“ towards his bedroom.  
Upon entering, Henry was thankful that he had forgotten to switch the nightstand lamp off as it now made it easier for him to direct Murphy towards the bed.

The matress creaked under the weight of both of them as Henry dumped Murphys body on the outspread blanket and scattered pillows. A Product of Henrys former insomniac shifting around.  
Loosely he pulled the blanket from under Murphy and covered him tightly, knowing that the man probably needed the warmth.  
„I´ll be in the living room ok? If you need anything just shout for me.“, he said while hovering over Murphy for a second to watch him nod in acknowledgement.  
Before he could back away again after being done, Murphy suddenly grabbed after his arm to hold him back. With a sigh Henry gave in quickly and sat on the edge of the bed.  
„What is it?“, he asked, wondering over the other ones rapid action.  
Lying on his back, Murphy let go of Henrys arm once he was sure that the younger wouldn´t just stand up again. He then opened his mouth, voice once again raspy, this time mostly from exhaustion.  
„You´ve been doing all this for me.“, he began, „You have absolutely no reason to be so nice but you are.“. He watched Henry blinking a few times in confusion. Yet Murphy continued: „You let a complete stranger into your apartement. You let me eat, you aid me. Now you let me sleep in your bed It´s just….“, Murphy paused, trying to find the right words for his question.

„I don´t know why I´m doing this.“, he was cut off by Henry, who knew what Murphy was trying to ask. Lost in his thoughts, Henry let his hand glide over the seam of the blanket.  
„It just...feels right I guess.“, he mused as Murphy looked at him in disbelief.  
„I don´t know. It´s hard to explain.“, Henry shook it off swiftly and with a single other creak of the matress stood up from the bed. Murphy probably thought he was completely out of his mind now. At least that´s what Henry figured.

„I´m glad you did.“, was Murphys only reply, soon to be followed up by a little snore.  
Henry turned around for the last time upon leaving the room.

„Of course you are.“  
He closed the door.

Once Murphys clothes had been safely loaded into the dryer after being washed and once the mess in the bathroom had been moderately cleaned, Henry found himself sprawled across the sofa, wide awake, while the TV softly ran in the background. He had given up on trying to sleep entirely. He´d just wait until Murphys clothes were done and then make some breakfast and wake his unintentional slumber party guest to ask him some questions.

In his mind the images of Murphys wounds flashed up again and again. The slashes and bruises, something he had seen before, a small voice in his head told him. Instinctively, Henry let his hand brush his chest. There was a reason why he preferred to never walk around without a shirt on.  
A part of him still held on at the idea that Murphy might just be some random burglar who had just decided to fuck with Henry on some spiritual level. But none of that would explain his remark about the chains on Henrys door.  
The only people who had full knowledge about what had happened in Room 302 were himself and Eileen. And both of them had made a pact to never speak of it infront of anyone else again. To their own protection and to finally bury everything Walter Sullivan had done to them along with his body.  
To the police, Henry was a mere unfortunate victim, that had suffered a stroke upon discovering Walters corpse per coincidence, and Eileen was the last remaining survivor of the yet unarrested copycat.  
It was over. There was no reason for Silent Hill to keep haunting them.  
And yet…

Why was Murphy here?

Frustrated, trying to make sense out of what was going on, Henry cradled his head in his hands and groaned. This was going nowwhere exept towards a huge headache on his behalf.  
When all of this would be over, he sure as hell would look for a new place to live. Something he should have done a long time ago If it weren´t for his moderate income and lack of decent and affordable apartements around the area.

He stood up, sloppily wandering around in the darkness towards, what he supposed was the laundry room.  
Murphys clothes should be done by now but Henry figured it would be better to let the man sleep for a bit longer. The clock only read 4 am and assuming that he had more to fight than just the wounds, the more rest the better.  
He squinted his eyes when the bright light of the laundry room lamp was switched on. As he figured, the dryer was finished.  
Henry didnt bothered ironing them, he wasnt some housewife and Murphy probably didnt needed it anyway. Quickly folding them into a small pile, he exited the laundry room again, only to be greeted by a dark sillouetthe standing in the hallway.  
Henry jumped, almost dropping the clothes as he laid eyes on the figure. He relaxed slightly again as he realized it was Murphy. Standing there, in nothing but underwear, silently staring at Henry.

„I uhhh. I got your clothes.“, he pointed out and awkwardly lifted the stack in his hands. Murphy said nothing. Henry felt uneasy at the silence, his guts churning.  
„Do you need anyth-“

„Are you real?“

He froze. Of all the things he would have expected to hear, this was not one of them. Perplexed, Henry hesitated before he answered.

„I think so...I mean...yeah?“

„You´re not a dream?“

„No.“

„Then this is really happening.“

„Yeah.“

They remained quietly in the barely illuminated hallway. Tense, trying to read each others thoughts.  
Henry felt uncertain about what to do next, uncomfortable, yearning for something to happen but unsure about what. Silence grew, Light shrank when the door shut.  
Murphy suddenly stepped closer.  
And pulled Henry into a tight hug.

He should have probably done something, Henry had thought. Should have pushed him away, asked what his deal was. Anything a normal person would have done.  
But as he felt the others bodywarmth pressed against his own, heard the muffled „You´re real“ and „Thank god“´s coming from Murphy burying his face in Henry shoulder, he figured that it was ok, he wasn‘t normal.  
The clothes dropped on the floor soundless as Henry lifted his arms slowly, hesitantly, wrapping them around Murphys broad shoulders and leaned his head against the others.  
Darkness grew around them once again as they stood still, Henry silent, Murphy mumbling unintelligible words of relief.  
Uncertain, Henrys right hand wandered up Murphys neck and settled inself on the mans back of the head, fingers interwining with dark brown strands of hair. He started stroking along the scalp, slowly and carefully.  
Murphy stopped mumbling and let it happen. His grip around Henrys waist slowly tightening. Time passed but Henry did not feel like letting go yet.  
As strange as this was, he enjoyed the embrace alot more than he should.  
The absurdity of the situation pushed aside by both of them. They stayed there for a while longer. Breathing in rythm, savouring each others warmth.  
Weariness came over Henry like a shower of warm water and suddenly he found it incredibly hard to keep his eyes open.  
He even had almost forgotten that Murphy was currently in his underwear.  
He had almost forgotten Murphy was a possible runaway convict who probably was connected to the place of his personal nightmares.

After some time, they parted for a few inches first, looking at each others face, then all at once. Henry turned away to pick up the clothes from the ground and Murphy coughed a few times awkwardly.

„I´m sorry. This place really works me up.“, he conceded, seemingly embarrased by his sudden display of intimacy but Henry brushed his apology off.  
„It´s ok. I didnt mind.“,  
he suddenly paused to repeat the words Murphy had said in his head and then apruptly turned back to him.  
„What do you mean „this place“?“  
Murphy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion:  
„You know? this place? This town? Silent Hill!“

He dropped the clothes again. 

Stumbling a few steps backwards, Henry got pale, the uneasy feeling from before turning into blank fear. He shook his head. This was not happening.

„We´re not...“, he kept stumbling, back to the wall. This was not happening.  
„We´re not in Silent Hill.“

Murphy picket up his shirt and watched Henrys reaction in alert, backing away slowly aswell, while maintaining his eyes on the distraught man infront of him, who now leaned against the (tapete) before collapsing on the ground.  
The nauseating feeling took over. Henry pressed his hand on his mouth, his vision blurring more and more. This was a joke, a cruel joke, someone somewhere was pulling on him.  
There was no way he was still in that horrible place. Not after everything they had done to escape. Not after 5 years of somehow recovery.  
Finally breaking out of his startlement, Murphy who had just stood there until now, tried to approach Henry slowly. Kneeling down, as calmly as possible reaching out his hand towards him. What had he said to mess Henry up so badly, so quickly? The horrid thought, that Henry mabye was not aware of where they were, built up inside Murphys mind along side an even worse idea, that Henry wasnt real afterall.  
Praying for the first option, he tried to touch his shoulder  
„Henry….“

But he was shoved away.

„Get out.“  
Anger filled words, hit Murphy hard. He watched Henry stand up, face infuriated. Fair to say it was something Murphy thought, must be an expression, rarely seen on the other man.  
Distancing himself again, he lifted his arms apologetically, hoping to calm the situation down.

„Henry, calm down, we can talk-“

„I dont know what is going on here.“, Henry cut him off sharply, his voice trembling more than he might have wanted. With every step He took foward, Murphy backed away. Anger had filled him along with despair, as he knew what everything meant, if Murphy was speaking the truth.

„I don´t know what kind of sick joke this is supposed to be.“, they were moving past the kitchen counter towards the living room windows.  
„But We´re not. In Silent Hill.“, He almost shouted the last words.

„Henry wait please,-“

„Leave.“

„You´re making a mistake here, I can help us here.“, Murphy dared to make his way back to Henrys direction. He felt himself filling up with frustration again. But still he refused to leave the man infront of him just yet. Hoping to break through to him somehow, he chose his next words with care:

„I know this place messes with people. Henry just listen to me, mabye we can-“

„No, I don´t care about what you have to say. You´re the one messing with me.“, Henry shook his head in anger but made no attempts to back away from Murphy.

„I´m not messing with you. Please calm down. Please-“  
But he was interrupted by the sudden flickering of the lamps, followed by the sudden sound of a small explosion above them. Sparks, flying through the air, illuminating one last bit of space before the lamps shut down completely and left both men in complete darkness.  
And Silence.

„Henry?“, Murphy called out in alert after a short time, reached his hands out and, to his fear, groped around in nothing but thin air.  
„Henry?“, he repeated again hoping to hear the other answer, no matter if angry or not. But as time passed, Murphy realized. He was alone.

-

 

It took Henry some time of fumbling around in the darkness, infront of the fusebox. Whatever had caused the fuse to jump out, he was not sure. All he knew was that his hands were still shaking and his anger had now been replaced with panic and even more anger. Not necessarily making it easier for him to find the right switch.

„There you are!“, with a small flicker to begin with, The lights were back on.  
Now again, knowing where to safely step, Henry relaxed slightly and leaned against the wall to catch his breath if only for a second.  
It was just now that he realized how sweaty his hands really had become. He did not like darkness. Especially not the way it had thrust itself upon him just now. The worst thing that had come into his mind was to turn the lights back on and find himself back...there.  
„You´re alright Henry.“, he whispered, eyes closed and listening to his heartbeat.  
„You´re alright.“  
He returned to the living room. Ready to force the ghost that was Murphy out of his life whatever it took but soon he realized that this was not necessary as he found the room completely empty.

„I need sleep.“, he mumbled, shook his head and made an attempt to turn around towards his bedroom.  
After that, he promised himself. He would call a therapist. And possibly a real estate agent aswell. Whatever it was that had happened to him just now. Henry knew. He could not let it happen again.

He stopped in his tracks as his feet stepped on something unknown, making a rustling sound. Confused, Henry leaned down to pick up what ended up to be a small and seemingly run down piece of paper.  
„What the?“, he mumbled, uncrumbling and smoothening the remnant of what seemed to be a document as good as he could.  
Mabye he would have been better off not reading what had been written on it. But still he flew over the smudged lines with a haste, and still he stopped immediately. And all of a sudden he stood there and never was more scared.

„Prisoner (unreadable) Murphy Pendleton, charged for (unreadable), transition to Maximum Security Facility Ryall State Prison approved. Expected date of transition, 23 of March (unreadable)


	2. Chapter 2

„Henry, wait. I know you are upset but this is...“

„I´m sorry Eileen but I need you to trust me with this.“

Determined, Henry made his way to the silver car parked in the garage, followed by Eileen, still wrapped in her dressing gown as it was only about 5 am in the morning when Henry had barged in her apartement to ask for the car.

„I don´t understand, what´s going on? Henry I swear to god I won´t give you my car if you won´t tell me!“,   
she stopped in her tracks to stomp on the ground with her feet, her usally sweet voice rose in volume and tone of anger, to a point where it even suprised Him.  
Right before putting his hand on the doorhandle of the vehicle, Henry turned around to face Eileen, looking at him at least as upset, if not even more as her voice had sounded.  
„What the Hell is going on?“, she repeated and Henry lowered his gaze in defeat.

„I need to get to Silent Hill. I need to settle this once and for all.“

Upon hearing the name of this place again, Eileens reaction resembled the one of Henry quiet alot. Hand pressed on her mouth, she stumbled a few steps backwards. He almost found the similarity endearing.

„You´re not...Henry…oh god please tell me you´re joking right now.“, she whispered.

He grimaced in anguish upon seeing Eileen tremble before him with pleading eyes. But as much as he wished he could reassure her he wouldn‘t go back there...It was a lie.

„Eileen.“, he laid his hands on her shoulders and drew her closer to wrap his arms around her small figure, like he had done numerous times before.

„I have this feeling, Silent Hill won´t leave us be if I dont do this and If Murphy really is still there...“, he paused because the thought of, how he had chased the man away in a fit of rage, still plagued him.   
„Please. I need to do this.“

Eileen didn´t answer but leaned into Henrys chest with her forehead, her fingers, still trembling slightly, grasping into the fabric of his pyjama shirt. He felt her warm but unsteady breath on his torso, smelled the faint scent of her shampoo. Henry would have stayed with her in a heartbeat but the images of Murphy alone in this town flashed in his mind again and again.  
Like so many times before, it was nothing but a feeling of what he should do. Not very reliable but all Henry needed because he carefully departed from their embrace and took out the small car key.  
Eileen still stood there , without Henry in her arms she stared at the ground before her feet, biting her lip.   
Heavy hearted, he did not wait for an answer but silently slipped onto the drivers seat and started the engine.

Right before the other door opened and Eileen swiftly took a seat too.  
„I´m coming with you.“, she exclaimed sharply after seeing Henrys confused face and fastened her seatbelt with a feeling of finality.  
„ As If I´m letting you go to that hell hole all by yourself. Oh please.  
If your friend really is in Silent Hill we got to get him out and move away from that god damm town, as fast as possible.“  
She looked at Henry, a small hint of fear still glimmering in her eyes, but Determination all over aswell. Relief filling Henry upon knowing that he had her by his side no matter what happened now. God he adored that woman.  
„Thank you so much.“, was all he was able to put into words, but his face spoke volumes.  
Eileen did nothing but smile as good as she could, knowing where they would be again soon.  
„Survivors gotta stick together….right?“, she said and directed her eyes onto the road, where they were heading off to in the blueish gray light of the morning.

-  
„Thank you.“

„For what?“

„The truth.“  
He gave a final smile to Anne, knowing that If everything would go well he´d never see her again. Perhaps for the best. Of course for the best. But as he stepped into the bushes near the lake towards, what he hoped was a way to the road, he found himself lost again. Not in a literal sense but lost in his heart.  
It was only now that he realized that wherever he was headed now, it was all by himself. Even in Silent Hill he had been not entirely alone.  
The sudden truth sweeping over him left his heart with a bitter aftertaste. Now that he had escaped the madness of this town and, hopefully would never have to return again to, it became clear that after everything he´d been through he never truly had a plan for what to do after, to begin with.

Finding a way onto the road was a starter. Mabye hitchhiking? But who would let him into their car when he looked like this? He needed to get to the next town and then as far away as possible.  
A New name, new life. New everything.  
To never look back, the words scribbled in his notebook, Murphy did not have it anymore. Somewhere in between, the pages had ended up lost in the strange nightmare prison. Ironically furfilling exactly what Murphy had told himself to do through it. Whereever it was now, he hoped it would never find the surface of the sun again.

The faint sound of cars passing from the far told Murphy he must have been getting close to the road. He couldnt help but feel thankful for that, because with the stress and adrenaline slowly fading and the reality of his escape settling in, he started to feel how exhausted his body truly was.  
His knees becoming weaker with every step, the past injuries finally taking their toll on Murphy and his stamina. Lost in dizzying thoughts, he brushed a bandage around his wrist and felt something else than his body in pain.

Leaving Henry behind in that purgatory of a town, nagged at him still. He had tried to reconnect along the way but when he had climbed up the ladder, he had found the window sealed shut and upon banging on the glass and trying to catch a glimpse on the insides, hoping to attract Henrys attention somehow, he had been confronted with exactly what he had feared the most.  
A deserted room that looked nothing like the place he had spent his time in.

More than that he had fallen for the mind games of Silent Hill once again, what truly filled his heart with bitterness was the fact that repeatedly, the good things happening to him were left illusions breaking down. Henry, for all the comfort the thought of him had given Murphy during this downpour, was most likely unreal. The only evidence speaking against this, the bandages all over Murphy, soaked wet and slowly loosening up under his prison suit.  
Murphy couldnt really explain why, of all the people he had encountered, Henry was the one that had buried himself in his mind the most besides Anne.  
Mabye being shown kindness beyond reason was something Murphy had been denied in a long time. Of course, a prison wasnt the best place for that. Having Henry around for this short time, had reminded him of better times, of the normal life he had once led. But faintly also of Frank which pained him even more now.  
However all of this was a dream. And Murphy was awake now.  
Well barely.   
Breaking out of the wall of leaves and twigs, Murphy squinted his eyes at the bright afternoon sunlight hitting his face once again. The road layed down before him, a sign that said Silent Hill, 2 miles stood tall, a few metres away. Did he really walked 2 miles like this?  
Murphy made his way along the road, sticking close to the border of the forest, hoping not to attract any unwanted attention of cardrivers. As much as it would go faster and incredibly more comfortable to just get himself a ride somehow, Murphy knew that all he would do by stopping a car, while wearing a bright orange convict suit, would get him back in prison, faster than he could explain his situation. And Anne had to face the consequences of her lie to the rescue team about Murphys whereabouts. No, Hitchhiking was out of the question.

He couldnt deny that the sunlight warming up his skin had felt good for the first half a mile, but as time passed,it turned into a hot sting on Murphys pulsating head, clouding his thoughts. How he yearned for something containing water, anything he could get his hands on. 

Out of the blue He randomly remembered a phrase from somewhere about the sun barely shining in Silent Hill. Well it had chose a great fucking moment to do so, he cursed, exhausted, dragging and stumbling closer to the road than he wanted. His feet hitting the heated asphalt, followed by his knees as Murphy couldnt hold the weight of his own body anymore, and eventually he collapsed, face down, his skin burning, sprawled halfway on the road.  
That was it. After fighting all kinds of monsters, escaping a deadly void and facing whatever inner demons he had, Murphy Pendleton would find his end on the side of a deserted highway, dying of goddamm heat exhaustion. Way to go.

In a final bitter attempt to laugh at his fate, he heard the noise of an approaching car. Wheels squeaked infront of him, as a large shadow towered over Murphy of a vehicle come to a halt. But it was too late.  
In his mind, all that echoed was the bang of a door and a shout of what might have been his name.  
Then It all went dark.

He did not know for how long he had remained unconcious.  
Forming from emptiness of his passed out mind, the first thing Murphy percieved was muffled radio noises and two voices whispering to each other.  
Then he felt that his head laid on something soft and ...alive? The faint scent seemed familiar but he was too tired to make out who it belonged to all he knew was that whoever it was, they we´re pressing something cool and wet on his forehead. Through his exhaustion Murphy could let out a faint sigh.  
His body laid there limp and attempt of a movement felt impossible. But with his clouded mind it was too much to bother about right now. Without even opening his eyes, Murphy lost conciousness again.

 

Henry had been filled with the energy to run beserk in Silent Hill to find Murphy. But it had ended up far more easier with the man falling in their way. Literally.  
In the, suprisingly bright, afternoon sun they were given they had drove down the road to Silent Hill, completely avoiding any kind of conversation for the past hour as soon as the Towns name appeared on the shields.

Then out of what felt like nowhere, a bright orange dressed figure stepped out and collapsed halfway on the street, giving Henry nearly a heartattack.  
Hitting the brakes as fast as he could, he and Eileen clinged onto their seats to not crash into the cars dashboard.  
„What the hell?“, Eileen shrieked out, almost simultaneously as Henry thought.  
But instead of expressing his suprise and shock in words there was something else that quickly caught his attention.  
Although he was wearing something completely different than when Henry had last seen him, it took no time for him to recognize the face, half pressed on the asphalt, looking unhealthyly red and swollen.  
Henry jumped out of his car, no second thought wasted on anything as he ran towards Murphys collapsed body, shouting his name in both, relief and panic.  
Murphy did not respond, lying motionless as Henry kneeled next to him, turning his body to the side and horrifiedly realized how hot it felt.  
„Murphy! Hey!“, he called out again, gently patting the unconcious mans face, unsure about what to do now.  
„Is he…?“, Eileen settled next to them on the ground viewing Murphy with concerned eyes while Henry slipped two fingers along his neck to check for a pulse. But as much as he tried to concentrate, his fingers shaking from the adrenaline hindered him from catching on anything he could make out clearly.  
„I don´t know...I´m not sure.“, he gulped, continuing to randomly press along of what he guessed might be the pulse artery with unsteady hands as Eileen watched him. Time passed in the burning sun and with growing fear, his hands shook more and more until Eileen couldnt take it anymore.

„Let me try it.“, she eventually interrupted Henrys attempts with a semi-calming voice, by gently pushing his sweaty hands from Murphys neck and replacing them with her own. 

„He´s alive ...kinda.“, eileen concluded after a painfully quiet few seconds. Henry exhaled in relief from the somehow good news. At least as good as it could get in their current situation. Whatever deity had their hands in the last few days, he was not sure if it really loved or fucking hated Murphy.

Eileen, feeling somehow more on the ground with what was happening at the moment, stood up and freed her bare knees from the dirt of the asphalt. Henry followed her action but halfway through slipped his arms around Murphys limp upperbody.  
„What are you doing?“, she asked bewildered, while Henry rose more and more, pulling the unconcious man up aswell. His face getting red and sweatier from exhaustion.  
„Take the legs please!“, he choked out in between short huffs of breath and tried taking a few steps towards the car. Eileen sighed defeatedly and hurried to the two men. Today certainly was some kind of day, she thought as she grabbed Murphys legs and slowly, together with Henry, carried the, at least for her, stranger towards her car and sloppily stuffed him, sprawled out on the backseat of their car.  
„I swear to god, even with Walter and everything, this is defenitely the weirdest thing we did so far.“, she panted, leaning against the drivers seat door. „Thank god anyone ever drives along this road. Could you imagine what might happen if someone see´s-“  
She stopped in her tracks as she caught Henry leaning over Murphy, his prison suit zipper opened and arms half slipped out of the sleeves.  
„What are you doing??“,she cried out as Henry continued to undress Murphy to his boxers.  
„Getting him out of these clothes?“, he answered with a casualty as if it was a completely normal thing to do on the middle of the road, he stuffed the dirty prison suit under the front seats once it was removed and returned his concern back to Murphy.  
„Don´t worry I think he´s used to this by now.“, he said and pointed towards a waterbottle, sticking out of a small bag on the side of the door. „Can you give me that for a second?“  
Eileen continued to stare at the absurd scenery, then shaking her head, mumbling something about them being absolutely insane and handled Henry the water bottle.

With the approaching evening, the suns sting lowered It´s intensity and ended up being slightly clouded as soon as they had left Silent Hill after them for a few miles.  
Eileen, hands clasped around the wheel in an iron grip, listened to the humming of the AC combined with muffled down radiotalk. Through her mirror, she watched Henry now and again, who had resided on the backseat with Murphys head on his lap, pressing his wetened and crumbled up upper shirt on the others forehead and back of the neck. They had tried to give him a few sips of water now and again too but Eileen doubtet it had done all too much.  
She watched Henrys expression, the way he clutched the cloth tightly but didnt even dared to press it onto Murphy any more stronger. He sat there stiff, as if scared to move. But Eileen could tell how exhausted he truly was.

„You know…“  
Henry looked up to Eileens seat upon hearing her hesitant voice.  
„Back then in...Silent hill. I was always so amazed by how you could stay so calm.“, she said while staring at the road. Henry didnt reply but she could feel his gaze in her back. Eileen continued.  
„When we were stuck there. I was so terrified and scared all the time. Fighting all these monsters. This horrible place. But it always seemed like none of that really got to you.  
At some point it even scared me how you behaved.“, she paused,   
confirming through a look into the back mirror that Henry was looking at her, with an expression she could not read.  
„But now. Now you show up in the middle of the night talking about weird strangers. You do all these crazy things, and you shout after people and you...are stressed and can´t make out a pulse because your hands are shaking so much and it´s just…“, she stopped a second time trying to make out words for the thoughts in her mind while Henry still remained silent.

„I never thought I´d get to see you like this.“  
ending her last sentence she wished for Henry to say something. Her hands slowly strengthening the grasp around the steering wheel. She gulped into the continuing silence. At the back of the seat, Henry, staring at his finger,s holding the water bottle, at least as tight, as his throat felt.

„I...never knew…“, his words came out slowly, unsteadyly(?), like he was someone who tried to talk for the first time and every inch felt like a burden to overcome.  
„how to feel about everything that happened to me. To us.“, fidgeting around with the lid of the bottle, turning it, open, closed.  
His eyebrows furrowed as he gave his best to make any of his somehow understandable.

„Everything, things I thought I could rely on just suddenly went overboard. And I was stuck in this nightmare. Then you got involved and I felt like it was up to me to get us out. By the time I got to realize what had happened to us it was already over.“, his voice dropped along with the plasticbottle in his hands.   
„All of this never made any sense.“, Henry, at last, cradled his head in his left hand.  
„I know.“, she replied bitterly.  
„I tried to search for a reason, so hard. As further as it took me, the more it made me insane.  
The worst was, that I had to put things down and just accept that there never was one.“

„I´m sorry...“, her voice sounded small.

„It wasnt our fault.“

They were interuppted by Murphy slightly shifting to the right, still seemingly unconcious. Both of them listened to his shallow breathing while they continued to drive down the road, illuminated by the now setting sun.

Eileen sighed: „What are we going to do?“

 

The second time Murphy awoke it defenitely was not in a car.  
He was lying on an unknown bed, in an unknown room, however, as he turned his still dizzy head and saw, next to someone he did know.

Henry was slumped together on a chair next to the bed Murphy was lying on, his head leaning against the wall quiete similar to how Murphy had laid there in his shower. Strands of hair covering most of one side of his face but not enough to hide the horrible dark shadows underneath his closed eyes.  
Murphy could not tell if what he felt stronger at this moment was relief or confusion.  
Relief that he was alive, and Henry, there with him.  
And confusion about everything else revolving that.

Wandering around the strange room with his eyes for a while longer, Murphy suggested that night must have either just ended or begun. Blueish, weak light, shined through the partly drawn curtains and he couldnt tell if he heard any birds outside. He faintly recalled his few concious moments in the car and wondered how long they had been travelling.

Hesitantly lifting his arm, two of his fingers gently brushed the tips of Henrys pony hair. He was not close enough to actually move the strands but enough to gently wake the other one up.  
Henrys lids fluttered for a few seconds before he rose his head  
„Hey!“, Murphy did not have the energy to move his body too much but Henrys sudden reaction did startle still, drawing a short gasp out of him.  
It took the other one a moment of recollection before he sat up again, still drained by his sudden awakening. But as he realized that Murphy was awake, awake and eyeing him he quickly was on his feet again.  
„You´re awake!“  
Henry halfly kneeled on the bed as his hands reached out to hold Murphys face, his own having relief written all over it, but stopped in his tracks shortly.  
Not knowing where to put his hands now, he just let them fall loosely onto the blanket while he lowered his face mabye in embarassment over his reaction. He bit on his lips:  
„How´re you?“, he mumbled, fidgeting with the seam of the blanket before looking up to Murphys face again.

„Like I´ve been run over.“, Murphy sighed while trying to rise from the bed with little sucess. Henry quickly laid his hand over Murphys chest, gently pushing him back into the matress, shaking his head and mouthing a single, caring „don´t“  
Murphy let it happen, loosening himself up into the comfort of the bed at least a little bit.  
He continued to eye Henry who now, compared to the horryfied expression he had last seen him in, just looked exhausted. He did not really wanted to know how he must looked at the moment. But if it only would be half as bad as he felt it would come pretty close to Henrys.  
A question popped up inside Murphys head:

„Where are we?“  
„A friends apartement.“, Henry answered calmly and before Murphy could even voice his second question shook his head: „Ashfield. Not Silent Hill.“  
Murphy closed his mouth, having heard what he wanted to hear. Though there were still many questions to be answered he let it be. He could tell, Henry was too tired, he was too tired.   
For now, all he needed was there.   
Not caring wether it was bold or not, Murphy reached out to the hand of Henry, still lying flatly on the surface of his blanket. With Henry looking neither suprised nor making any attempts to pull his hand away, he interwined their fingers slowly.

„How come, ever since I got there, everytime I pass out, into trouble, you´re the first to come and pull me out of it?“, Murphy muttered. They did not look up at each other but continued to stare at their locked hands.

Henry smiled and gently squeezed their fingers before laying his free hand over them too,

„I guess I just got a secret sense for men in trouble.“, he suggested and both broke out into a short but genuine laughter.

Through his exhaustion Murphy smiled.  
„I´m glad you do.“  
Henry smiled aswell.  
„Of course you are.“

**Author's Note:**

> And oh this too shall pass  
> This loneliness won't last for long 
> 
> -Gale song, the lumineers
> 
>  
> 
> I know for many of you this must have ended disappointing, even I am disappointed in myself and my skills at some point. But I will learn and for now I am just happy, I finished what I had started months ago. Thank you for reading. There is nothing more comforting for me, than to know that in this small fandom of this rare pairing, I am not alone.  
> Also keep in mind that I am not a native english speaker and this Fic was created without a Beta Reader, any sugesstions or typos pointed out, help me become better!


End file.
